Day Three Hundred Sixty-Five: Going Out With A Bang

I love that on the last day of my Year of Firsts project I have many Firsts to report!

First of all, Max and Clay and I had a chance to go to Doubletree Ranch Park in Highland Village today, which is a truly wonderful and beautiful public park, with so many great amenities including a large splash pad and a meeting room that looks like a barn.

The Doubletree Ranch Party Barn

Only one part of the immense splash pad

Our reason for being there was for the back-to-school party for the new homeschool group we will participate with this school year. This was our first time meeting the families that will make up Arrow, and we have already made some friends.

After the party, I followed up on yesterday's First by taking myself to a chiropractor who was willing to see me on very short notice. It was my first chiropractic appointment, my first time to have a TENS massage on my back, and my first time to have a spinal adjustment. My back is certainly not pain free after all of that, but it is definitely so much better than it was last night! I'll have a follow-up appointment on Monday to try to move along the healing.

Paying for yesterday's First

Another First came later in the afternoon when Clay got the cooking bug. I convinced him we should make banana bread with our surplus of overripe bananas, and he convinced me we should add chocolate chunks. I never have made banana bread with chocolate chunks, but it seemed like a good move, so we went with it.

Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread

Finally, we celebrated my father-in-law's birthday at our favorite conveyor belt sushi place in Carrollton where I tried a unique Japanese dessert called Cream Anmitsu--agar (red algae) jelly, sweet azuki bean paste, fruit, and ice cream. It was...interesting.

Cream Anmitsu

This Year of Firsts has been so fun and educational (and occasionally painful), and I'm so thankful for all the new experiences I've had! Thanks for following along! I hope you've been inspired to try some new things as well, regardless of whether you're celebrating a milestone birthday or not.

Day Three Hundred Eleven: Cerro de la Gloria

It was another beautiful day here in Mendoza, so some of us decided to do a short hike. Mendoza is surrounded by several large hills, so we took a cab to the top of one of the more famous ones, Cerro de la Gloria, where there is a huge monument dedicated to General San Martin, who played a fundamental role in liberating Argentina from Spain in the 1800s. After checking out the monument, we hiked down the hill and through the largest park in town, which also honors San Martin. It was a lovely day, and we had such a great time!

A tribute to San Martin and his liberating army

A nice view from the top of the hill

 Coke break at the lake after our hike

Day Two Hundred Ninety-Four: Museo del Area Fundacional

Jeff's school had an outing to a local museum scheduled this afternoon, and I decided to join Jeff there after his classes, even though the kids weren't interested in going. Therefore, my first First of the day was wandering around the city by myself on this cold, wet day looking for a cab. There were plenty around, but either they weren't available or they were on the other side of the street and super hard to hail. I had no luck, so I was just generally heading in the direction of the museum when Jeff called to say that his driver and our guide for the afternoon would pick me up if I would just stay where I was. I was directly across the street from a Shell station, which seemed like a good place for them to meet me. I didn't count on having to play a live version of Frogger to get over there, but that just added to the adventure. When Jeff and Maggie picked me up, I found out that it is "impossible" to get a cab at that time of day (12:30) because it's rush hour. Interesting.

The museum commemorates the birth of the city and actually sits atop the original governor's palace, which was buried by an earthquake at some point. The museum itself seems to be a working excavation site for the palace and the original plaza, which was pretty cool. I somehow managed to follow most of the Spanish tour until the very end when it became like drinking from a fire hose. I was glad to hear later that it felt the same to Jeff. My favorite exhibit was the "Water Room," which explained how Mendoza would be nothing but dry desert if it weren't for the irrigation systems that were developed to divert water from the Mendoza River, which is one of several that flows down from the Andes. This city seems lush, with gorgeous tree-lined streets and so many large parks, but all that is basically fake. Everything has been planted and absolutely nothing grows here naturally. I loved the photo of the installation of the first fountain which showed a background that looks very similar to our family's ranch in west Texas. We have been to the park that houses that fountain, and I can assure you you would never guess it was originally a desert.

The most hilarious part of the tour was near the end of the fire hose speech when our guide (and ride) suddenly said she was leaving and wished us luck with finding a taxi to get back home. Jeff and I kind of looked at each other to see if we were understanding correctly, and the next thing we knew, we were receiving our customary cheek kisses and a wave. Thankfully, the rain had let up, but it was still pretty cold, and of course, we had to walk quite a distance before finding a cab. We got a good laugh out of the situation, and I told Jeff I was kind of glad for it since it meant I actually got to walk the entire route to/from the museum.

Museo del Area Fundacional

A mural of the original plaza faces the new plaza,
which has been built over the original.

The entrance to the museum reveals
 the ongoing excavation.

A fountain in the desert

The same park now

Day Two Hundred Eighty-Six: El Parque General San Martin

Just four blocks from our house here in Mendoza there is an amazing park that seems to go on forever. Jeff and the boys and I visited on this beautiful evening, and we already know we will be spending lots of time there during our month here. I impressed the boys tremendously by climbing a big tree with them. When I mentioned that they seemed surprised, Clay exclaimed, "Well, moms don't usually come in trees!" I have obviously climbed tress before, but I admit, it has been quite a long time. So long, in fact, that I might as well count it as a First.

El Parque General San Martin

Fountain of the Continents

Tree climbing with my guys

Day Two Hundred Thirty-Two: Wind in the Willows Picnic

Yesterday while we were picnicking during our hike, everyone started talking about what the best picnic was they had been on and what would be the greatest picnic of all time. Ruth mentioned that her dream picnic would be a Wind in the Willows picnic (which is to say a very elaborate, fancy, excessive picnic), and the boys readily agreed.

Parents aren't always able to give their children everything they want, nor should they, in my opinion. But when it is within your power to fulfill a simple dream and create memories that will last a lifetime, you do it when you can. So, with the Wind in the Willows picnic as a our starting point, everyone contributed ideas to create the most epic picnic ever. We heard things like, "We need to find a big shade tree to spread our red-checkered blanket under," "We have to have a layer cake," "We need to use nice dishes," and "We have to pack everything in a real basket," in addition to a multitude of food and drink requests. We certainly modified the contents of the picnic (because, cold tongue?!?!), but the spirit was right on, and we felt Mole and Ratty would have approved.

The original Wind in the Willows picnic

Our version of the Wind in the Willows picnic

Day Two Hundred Nineteen: Devil's Den

Today's adventure took us to Devil's Den State Park in Arkansas, which is absolutely gorgeous and full of wonderful trails. We hiked a moderately difficult three-mile trail this morning, had a picnic by the river at lunch time, and then hiked a less strenuous two-mile trail in the afternoon. It was the kind of day that makes my heart happy, and I was so glad to experience this First with all my people!